State auditor's report faults 3 district courts in Western Massachusetts for failing to collect certain fee increases

File photo by Greg Derr / The Patriot LedgerState auditor Suzanne Bump, seen here campaigning in Quincy last year, has issued a report critical of a number of state courts for failing to collect fee increases as required.

SPRINGFIELD –One in four of the state’s district courts disregarded state law by exempting some criminal offenders from paying an increase in probation fees, and nearly 26 percent of all 70 courts failed to assess some $1.2 million in fees, according to a report compiled by state auditor Suzanne Bump.

Among the district courts in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, three courts did not collect the monthly fee of $50 -- increased from $21 -- that took effect on July 1, 2009.

In Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, the three district courts cited in the report are Eastern Hampshire in Belchertown, Westfield District Court and Northampton District Court.

Judge Philip A. Contant, presiding judge of Westfield District Court, said even though the Massachusetts Trial Court said it was legal to enforce the increased fees, he did not think it was always fair to do so for people who had already signed a probation contract citing the amount of the monthly fee they must pay.

“I felt it was really not fair in many cases where people had agreed to a certain figure and signed a contract. Nothing on the contract said they may have to pay more,” Contant said.

He said the figures for money that could have been collected cited in the state auditor’s report were “pretty speculative -- estimated projections of potential revenues.”

“In the scheme of things, I’m not sure it’s as bad as it may look at first blush,” Contant said.

Judge W. Michael Goggins, acting presiding justice of Northampton District Court, said his court will implement any necessary procedures.

"I have looked at the report and the Northampton District Court appreciates auditor Bump bringing this administrative oversight to our attention," he said.

File photo by John Suchocki / The Republican Judge W. Michael Goggins in seen in Northampton District Court earlier this year.

Joan Kenney, spokesman for the Trial Court, said the statewide report covered the period of July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010. She said faults were only found with cases active as of June 2009.

She said most of those cases have since finished and the courts have been in full compliance on new cases begun since the law was passed.

“Our data reflect that administrative probation fees collections have increased from $3,450,858 in 2009 to $5,266,339 in 2010,” Kenney said.

In a report issued on May 23, Bump said, “These courts made a decision not to follow the law. Not only did they forego an extra source of non-taxpayer revenue, the arbitrary collection of probation fees resulted in an inequitable application of the fee.”

In all three courts the clerk/magistrates referred questions to each court’s presiding judge. Judge John Payne, presiding justice of Eastern Hampshire District Court, was unavailable for comment due to his schedule.

Contant said Westfield District Court has historically had good rates of collection of all court fees.

He said another factor in his decision not to increase some peoples’ probation fees who had already signed a contract was that many of the probationers had terms of probation as short as a few months.